DISASTROUS FLOODS.

Wairarapa Age, Volume XXV, Issue 10713, 31 March 1913, Page 5

DISASTROUS FLOODS.

ENORMOUS DAMAGE IN THE SOUTH.

GORE TOWNSHIP COMPLETELY SUBMERGED

STOCK AND BUILDINGS WASHED AWAY.

THE MATAURA VALLEY UNDER WATER.

TRAIN COMMUNICATION ENTIRELY SUSPENDED.

DAMAGE fN CORE ESTIMATED AT £IOO,OOO.

(United Fres3 Associative-By Electric Telegraphic^pyright.)

G©(R®, Last Night. The most disastrous flood ever experienced in Goto and' the Mataura Valley occurred on Friday morning. The flood was oxpected, but was not expected to be so serious. Every town along the wohle length cf the Mataura Valley has suffered, and the losses are. enormous iiai stock alone. Thousands of sheep, and hundreds of (kittle and horses have been lost, theiir carcases being carried away in the rushing waters to Mataura Island, or out to sea. CROPS RUINED. All the crops still out on the lowlying Waimea Plains have been irretrievably lost. The river at times was littered with sheaves,-,siheds, and debris of all descriptions. •' J ' Gore and Mataura were particularly hard hit. TiHE TOWN SUBJMERGED. At Goire, half the private residences, were submerged far several feet, 83JJI'? for ten feet. This Aspect of th§ loss ig appalling, enous than tlie devaS- ' taring damage caused .by the flooded • waters to the shops in the "town. : The drapery trade is probably the hardest hit. Large consignments of sugar, flour, sago and tapioca were? V reduced to waste. Booksellers, grocers, boot-makers, _ and other trades suffered a great loss. Windows and mirrors were smashed t and goods were washed out of the shops. ' Practically no one escaped, and the aftermath of tlie autumn flood of 1913 few have a desire to seriously.; contemplate. Meantime, Southland has a (reputation for making a quick recovery, and Zq doubt will sustain this reputation. , tlie' despite the published re- . ports in the Ensign on Friday even- » in S- , • I It rained heavily, and the rivers were running full, but not nearly as. j high as flood level.' ' THE ALAltti ' At nil >vas\ before 5 a.m. on. Saturday <4© rijjae'ated clanging of firebells and die .'screeching of steam whistles warn* ed of the approaching danger, and tlio.se who heeded bad little difficulty in e&caping* Many tardily heeded the warning, and did not realise the danger. They endeavoured to save their household effects, and had great difficulty in escaping. The (river burst over its bank,: and finally ove r the Waimea railway line. , In less than twenty-two minutes the ■street was a raging torrent, four to five feet deep. WORK Ox'" RESCUE.

Gore is £IOO,OOO, 4aitid the . including the whole of the Mataura t Valley, £150,000. One draper in Gore estimates his i loss at £2500; another £ISOO, andi other tradesmen from £€oo upwards. I Only one small shop in the whole town escaped. The stocks of tea, tobacco, rice and tons of groceries hav© been ruwued, and burst cases are to be seen in all directions on the floors of the main street shops. Windows were broken, and goods floated down stream for miles. Tons of sugar melted away, only the sacks being left., SUCCOUR WANTED. . Provitsdon ß are badly wanted. j A little bread arrived from Invercargill last night, but not sufficient; ».;but it is hopedl that the local bakers will 'be able to bake some time today. The butchers are doing all they can. The Ensign newspaper was unable ' to publish on Satm-day, ail t.lie machinery, including the linotvfpes, being submerged. The paper hope-s to issue to-morrow, >■ - The waters airii iiow subsiding, and,. '' are five feet below yesterday's lev, e 'v They are still in the town, however. Hundreds of residents are engaged' clearing their houses of the wit, and restoring order as far as possible. ; Scores of pianos have been irretrievably trained. •Miles of fencing have been washed away. , INCIDENTS OF THE FLOOD. | One resident returned to iris house this manning, to And the carcase of a bullock (blocking the front cioor. Others were prevented f■ oiin gaining their homes througli piled-up debris, and in one or two -cases out I '- houses were washed ,-up against the, houses. « 'iiliousaads °f 5'P u^r y have been lost. -• ! "an unusual Spectacle. j Gore presents an unusual spectacle f-jl- Sunday afternoon, j r Plie shops are open, and i«ecple are ' lajning in the piwisions that are available. _ ; " ' 1 The. Borough will suffer severely, tho roads in Hiine cases being aliiost stripped of metal. All the five ibanks were inundated with water, and the staffs are engaged wringing water out of the bank notes and documents. I Tradespeople are .unable to get their books out' of their safes in many cases. Owing to the swelling of the paper and card, tlie ledgers burst and deeds and documents are in a hopeless mess. The sun is shining brightly this afternoon, on the scene of.devastation, and- hundreds of visitors I'r.om the higher country have driven in to see the spectacle. DAMAGE IN OTHER PARTS.

An Ensign reporter visited the Waimea Plain s this afternoon. Only the main valley of Use s£utaura and Waikaia rivers have been seriously affected. The Riversdale and S wit zero .railway is badly damaged, and it is thought it will be some time "before trains can be inn on this branch. At Jdataura township, the river rose with great rapidity and-broke its-j banks at 8 a.m. above tile town. All t3ie houses above the paper mills and 011 the : west side of the township .were swamped in a very shprt space of time. A PANIC ENSUES. A great panic ensued, people flying from their homes. Women and children were rescued in carts and taken to safety. One store and one hotel were the only business places flooded, all the . shops in Bridge street escaping, j The coal-mines were flooded. One house on the river bank, a?td a . two-roomed' cottage were washed away. DAMAGE TO RAILWAYS. A washout lias occurred on the railway line 'below the town. The line is much damaged between Charlton an<s Mataura. Two bridges over the Waiiniumu stream, and. one over the Waikamae stream have been washed away. The damage at the paper mills is considerable. The freezing 'works suffered a good deal of.damage, especially in the electric light department. They will be disorganised for a few days, j EXCITING EXPERIENCE. I Mr E. Humphries, while going to the d-aliv factory in t.hle morning, had a trying experience, being capsized and carried for some distance. Eventually he clung to a'tree, where he remained for eigfht hour s before being rescued. J RESTORING ORDER. Residents .returned to their homes

Rescue parties were speedily organised by men on foot, men on horseback, and horses and traps. Later in the day, boats and rafts were employed. Between 7 and 7.30 a.m. the water rose two feet, and reached beyond tlie highest ever recorded during the his'torical flood of IS/ At 9 a.m. the water was at- its height. The mwn yfcivet was then a raging torrent, and quite impassable. Debris of all - descriptions—meat safes, telegraph poles, fowls, sheep, cattle, loose timber, all manner of i-efuse —was swirling down the current forming a strange sight on Saturday afternoon. The rescue parties first visited the lower-lying, stivets, and the work was hazardous and sometimes positively dangerous. j There were many exciting incid- I ents and narrow escapes, but no loss of life. . People on the higher levels made house, unci fed <wid clothed tin© unfortunate sufferers, \ylio Mere literally washed out-of their homes. The hills and terraces in West Gore were thronged all day. Many amstanoes of self-sacrifice occurred. ASSISTANCE FiLIOjVI A CUKCUiS. ,Great praise is due to member®, of Barton Bros.' circus, who, with the help of tliar horses, rescued _ whole streets of families who despaired of finding means of transport to the hills. x .. Many risked their lives in efteeting rescues. , Numbers of the stricken residents had to remain on the root's of houses till late in the .-afternoon before they could be taken to safety. Accommodation' was found for the majority in the residences of the more fortunate kinsmen on the hills. Others s lept on -shakedowns in the school. . All' who could, supplied food, and the neighbouring farms sent in large quantities. ESTIMATE OF DAMAGE. On a rough etiinate, the damage hi

this morning, finding things in a dreadful state. All along the Mataura to Gore Toad there are dead sheep, sheaves aind bags of corn clinging to the fences. Had the flood occurred an hour earlier, during the darkness, tlie resuit must Ka.ve been calamitous, and a loss of life would liave been coi-tain. A relief committee has been formed itn Gore to arrange for a food *mpPty-